1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a food product container. More particularly, it relates to a multi-compartment segmented container adapted for a food product, including but not limited to yogurt, in which a secondary container holds spices or other ingredients to be mixed with the primary food product, such as yogurt, prior to consumption.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the art of food containers, including yogurt containers, it is known to provide compartmentalized containers for segregating different ingredients of a food item until such time as the food item is to be consumed, immediately prior to which the different ingredients are mixed. For instance, fast-food chain, McDonalds®, famously advertised that its sandwich, the McDLT, was packaged in a novel, two-sided, container that kept the hot items hot and the cold items cold; this package was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,685 issued to Leary et al. on Mar. 31, 1987. U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,116 issued to Picchietti on Feb. 16, 1999, discloses a food container formed of a pair of matched upper and lower dishes having a perforate interconnecting member disposed between the upper and lower dishes. U.S. Pat. No. 6,955,028 issued to Dunaway on Oct. 18, 2005, discloses a method of forming a multiple food product container for dispensing different food products from different regions of the container, i.e. one food product could be dispensed from the bottom of the container while a second food product could be dispensed from the top of the container. U.S. Pat. No. 7,063,229 issued to Westerhof et al. on Jun. 20, 2006, discloses a single handed container for mixing foods, such as milk and cereal. U.S. Patent Appln. No. 2006/0272964, filed by Vogel et al. and published on Dec. 7, 2006, discloses a closure system for food containers and a method for mixing food items stored in separate portions of such a food container. And, U.S. Patent Appln. No. 2014/0097106 filed by Broekaert et al. and published on Apr. 10, 2014, discloses a container for packaging and storing in separate compartments at least two products which need to be combined to prepare a ready-to-use product. Other known references include U.S. Pat. No. 8,807,373; U.S. Pat. No. 8,784,917; U.S. Pat. No. 8,753,699; U.S. Pat. No. 8,551,545; U.S. Pat. No. 8,541,038; U.S. Pat. No. 8,409,645; U.S. Pat. No. 7,669,714; U.S. Pat. No. 7,041,362; U.S. Pat. No. 6,723,360; U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,964; U.S. Pat. No. 6,257,403; U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,649; U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,244; U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,084; U.S. Pat. App. No. 2014/0183190A1; U.S. Pat. App. No. 2014/0183090A1; U.S. App. No. 2014/0097106A1; U.S. Pat. App. No. 20100112146A1; U.S. Pat. App. No. 20100116698A1; U.S. Patent App. No. 20100003379A1; U.S. Pat. App. No. 20090311389A1; U.S. Pat. App. No. 20070227919A1; U.S. Pat. App. No. 20060272964A1; U.S. Pat. App. No. 20060191805A1; U.S. Pat. App. No. 20060180483A1; U.S. Pat. App. No. 20060068063A1; U.S. Pat. App. No. 20110303678A1; U.S. Patent App. No. 20070125777A1; U.S. Pat. App. No. 20120258213A1; U.S. Patent App. No. 20140025508A1; Foreign Pat. Document No. EP1831085B1; Foreign Patent Document No. WO2014107575A1; Foreign Patent Document No. EP500318A1; and Foreign Patent Document No. FR2553386A1.
What is missing from the art is a segmented food container, such as a yogurt container, that has a secondary container, for receiving a secondary food item, adapted to be received within, and releasably secured to the primary food container such that, as the secondary food container is removed from within the primary food container, the food product contained within the secondary food container is released into the primary food container where it can be mixed with the primary food product in the primary food container.